The Latest: Top stories of the day
1. Addressing Parliament on Wednesday, Human Resources Development Minister Smriti Irani said the Opposition was politicising Rohith Vemula's death and also clashed with Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati over the case.
2. Lawyer Vikram Singh Chauhan arrested in Patiala House Court violence case, where students and teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru University were beaten up.
3. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet economists and market experts on Saturday, barely two days before his Budget speech.

The Big Story: Question for Haryana

Over the last week, the Jat protests for reservations in government jobs and in educational institutions have taken a frightening turn. The toll rose to 19 as protesters have turned violent, clashing with security forces and going on the rampage across towns. As the unrest continued, non-Jats were targeted by the mob, introducing the worrying suggestion of caste conflict. On Wednesday, reports emerged that women had been pulled out of cars and raped on National Highway-1 near Murthal. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered an independent investigation into the matter. Apart from its very obvious failure to mobilise the state machinery and respond to the immediate crisis, this week's episode leaves the Haryana government a lot to answer for.

Both government and opposition stand accused of provoking the violent outbreak. The Congress has been blamed for inflaming Jat anger, and a senior aide to Bhupinder Singh Hooda has been slapped with sedition charges. What is even more worrying the disaffection between the state government and this very large constituency. Jats find themselves inadequately represented and their traditional status insufficiently recognised by the Bharatiya Janata Party government led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, a product of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Caste divides were also deepened by BJP member of Parliament Raj Kumar Saini, who has formed a coalition of OBC communities who resist the inclusion of dominant communities such as the Jats in the reserved category. Much of the inter-caste violence over the last week was between Jats and Sainis.

But there is also a more long-term failure, which governments that preceded the Khattar dispensation must also answer for. Like in Punjab before it, where the stagnation of agriculture led to a generation of youth sliding into drug addiction and unemployment, the waning of Haryana's agricultural success story has had larger social implications. While agricultural yields dwindled, there were no jobs elsewhere. Even when industry came, it did not bring jobs because India Inc preferred to employ cheaper migrant labour and to streamline the use of labour. A generation of youth now has degrees but no jobs and farmers complain of finding no support from the government in years of distress. In response to these anxieties, governments have promised reservation before, but never delivered on it. No surprises, then, that no one is buying its promise to push through a bill ensuring OBC reservation for Jats. The quota stir rages on.

The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the big story of the day
Reporting from Haryana, Anumeha Yadav finds farmers, workers and youth who say they face multiple crises.
Vipin Pubby explores a difficult moment for Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and points out this is the first time non-Jats been targeted in the quota stir.
Himadri Ghoash and Nikhil Babu of IndiaSpend.com argue the protests are a result of inadequate job-creation and a failing education system.

Politicking and policying
1. At the railway budget today, Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu is expected to introduce cuts to crucial reserve funds to show a healthy operating ration and cover up the poor financial condition of the sector.
2. Ambedkarite activist Vira Sathidar, who acted in Court, alleges there are threats to his life and a media campaign against him.
3. A public interest litigation challenges Sanjay Dutt's release from jail.

Punditry
1. In the Hindu, Srinivasan Ramani argues the disaffected and underprivileged need to define a progressive nationalism.
2. in the Indian Express, Arvind P Datar on why Section 124 A should stay.
3. In the Business Standard, AV Rajwade on why it is unwise to leave the exchange rate to the mercy of foreign fund managers.

Don't Miss...
Mayank Jain on the cash crunch faced by the Indian Railways:

“This is going to be the first year in the last three decades or so that railways' passenger kilometres carried are going to be less than previous years,” said former Railway Board Chairman Vivek Sahai. “The financial distress is more a function of slowdown in Railways’ growth than anything else. They are simply not running enough trains to increase revenue from passengers.”

Sahai pointed out that over the years, cancellations of trains have increased and this has led to idle rolling stock which not only increases costs but fails to bring in any revenue which a running train would have – even if it is running late.

In the current financial year, while Railways has so far overtaken last year’s earning figures, it has fallen short of targets. For instance, earnings from freight till December 2015 were 6.2% more than what it achieved in the same period last year, the earnings are short by Rs 2,150 crore of its own target of raking in Rs 82, 676 crore. The situation is even grimmer when it comes to volumes. The railways reportedly carried only 8 million tonnes of freight more than last year by December 2015 while its target is to ferry 85 million tonnes extra by March 2016 which looks almost impossible to achieve.